Diaphragm type of pressure regulators



Dec. 30, 1952 s. GREENING 2,623,331

DIAPHRAGM TYPE OF PRESSURE REGULATORS Filed Aug. 1, 1950 ill/Z will 1;?

9 IIIEIIIE 10 I N QENTOR Siandlee Greem 111' romvs y.

Patented Dec. 30, 1952 DIAPHRAGM- TYPE OF PRESSURE REGULATORS Standlee Greening; Norwalk, Calif assignor to Agro Phosphate Company, a corporati'on of California Application August 1, 1950, ScrialNo. 117,6,990

This invention belongs to that generalclass "of devices known as regulators and relates particularly to valvesfor the control of fiuid pressures from sources of varyingpressures and it is especially useful in the control of liquid fertilizers from'a storage tanl; which is to be fed into irrigation ditches on fruit and vegetable lands. The vat or tank which feeds the liquid to the valve is notvented to prevent thebuilding of high pressures therein, but is provided with a check valve to prevent vacuum conditions within the tank.

Due totemperature differentials, high pressures may exist in a tank which is exposed to generalweather conditions, thus the present valve has been created to control the outlet fiow pressure of the fertilizer liquids and to provide some cooling for. the liquid so as to retain entrained ammonia. Although ammoniated ammonia nitrate is the fertilizer preferred, that is, the fertilizer that will usually be employed with this type of valve, itshould be obvious that any fluid, charged or uncharged, can be regulated to advantage by the control device of this invention.

The invention has among its objects the production of a means of the kind described that is simple, durable and compact in structure, relatively inexpensive to make andmanulacture; always dependableandeflicient in use and in service, and convenient to set forpressure regulation within certain predetermined limits with no loss of volatile constituents.

Other objects, advantagesand features of this particular illustrated invention will appear from a careful perusal of the accompanying drawings, the subjoined detailed description, the preamble of these specifications, and the claims appended hereto which point out thenovel features thereof.

Below, applicant describes one of the preferable forms of his invention in order to, teachthe art.

thereof and show how to make and use the same, but it is to be understood that the drawings and description thereof are not to limit the invention in any sense whatsoever except. as the sameymay be definitely limited by the teachings of the prior art; Language employed herein is not to bev 2 Claims. (Cl. 50-14) Figure 3 is a plan view of-a detail takenalong' line 3-3 ofFigure 1;

Figure 4 is asectional"view-taken substantiallyalong theline 44 of Figure 3; a

Figure 5-is an elevational view of a screw'val've.

The'particular illustrated form of the-invention was designed to be set for regulating pressures from atmospheric to about two or threeatmospheres and tobe supported in any suitable mannor to a tank at the outlet port thereof. The valve has a bottom casing l and-a top casing--2 their tops and bottoms, respectively, providing a suitable seat and/or clamp to accommodate and hold the diaphragm 3 when the bolts 4 are *secured in place, as shown. The diaphragmmay be ofany suitablematerial suchas rubber, special composite flexible materials, flexible ribbed metals etc.

The bottom casing has the-chamber 5 where the liquid has a slight drop in pressure so as to be self-cooling, and which chamber communicates with a bottom passage 6 by means of thethroat 'l which has a lowermargin that provides a valve seat and the walls thereof which formanother valve seat. The threaded opening, 9v is provided which is normally closedby'tne'threa'ded. plug. iii. A threaded bore in the top casing accommodates one end of a pipe or conduit: H which leads from the source of liquid to be dispensed and which in this case is a tank filledwith liquid fertilizer such, as, for.instance ammoniated.

ammonia nitrate. The port [3 isopemng to.the

vertical. passage it whichcommunicates-with the.

bottom passage 6.

The top casing 2. has the chamber ld which-ghas the peripheral stop margin iii, this chamber 14 communicating with the outlet conduit. or hose;

is via the passages ll: and t8, as. shown. A vertical passage It extends upwardly from the chamber [4 and is closed by the sleeve-plugiw which: has the; neoprene sealer 21-, whichz-may .be any suitable ring. The sleeve-plugvv has .a. threaded bore 22 into Whichis a threadedastem. 23 having. the; keyed cap, Thislcapisknuried so that the sten'rcancbe easilyadjusted by hand. The lower end of this stem has the integral and long tapered regulator element or finger 25.

The central portion of the diaphragm has an opening to accommodate the threaded portion 26 of the reduced end of a tubular element 21, the bore of which surrounds the tapered finger 25 so that verticalmovement of the element 21 varies the area of passage about the finger. When the pressure below the diaphragm is great enough, this passage about the finger is closed entirely providing screw 35 is backed sufliciently. The top end of this element 21 has the reduced portion 28 which provides a shoulder to receive the bottom end of the compression spring 29; this spring being held in position by the said shoulder and the bottom surface of the sleeve-plug 20, as shown. The long taper on the valve 25 allows for adjustment variations and greater movement of the tubular element 21. This type of construction works best with liquid materials having solids therein, therefore, means must be provided to avoid stoppages due to the solids clogging the passage ways. The screw 35 must be backed downwardly sufficient to allow the valve 25 to close and the adjustment of screw 35 may be such as to allow both valves to close together when the pressure is very high under the diaphragm.

A threaded cap 30 clamps the marginal portion about the central opening of the diaphragm 3 against a large washer 3| and this washer moves with the diaphragm upon pressure differentials. A plurality of holes or passages 32 are provided in the cap. This cap is provided with a threaded bore 33 which has threaded thereinto the threaded stem 34 of a screw type valve head 35 which has a screwdriver slot 36 which enables a workman to make adjustments with a screwdriver after the plug It! is removed. An annular groove is provided in the screwhead 35 which accommodates a neoprene sealer-ring 36' which contacts the bottom portion of the throat I when closed. In order to provide accurate measurement, a coiled compression spring 31 is employed which holds the Weight of the structure thereabove and counterbalances the effect of the heavier spring 29.

It should now be apparent that the stem 23 can be set to provide the desired opening between the tapered element 25 and the movable tube 2'! so as to allow a predetermined flow of fluid to the hose [6. In the event the pressure of the liquid from the source is greater than the pressure within the variable limits allowed, the limits in chamber 5 being determined by the setting of the screw-valve 35, the sealer ring 36 is forced upwardly against the valve seat 8 which closes the throat I. When the pressure drops in the chamber (including throat 1) the diaphragm and spring 29 opens the throat by forcing the screwhead 35 downwardly in order to allow more liquid to enter chamber 5 and pass to the outlet I8. Any reduction of pressure upon the liquid in chamber 5 causes the liquid to cool and thus retain the volatile matter in the fertilizer. Therefore, this valve device not only regulates the pressure of liquid passing therethrough, but also cools it slightly to compensate for pressure difference and hence avoids evaporation and loss of valuable constituents.

Various changes and modifications may be made in form, style, design, and construction of the whole or any part of the specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof. Such changes and modifications are considered as being within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a valve device for fluids, the device having a bottom casing joined to a top casing with a diaphragm member therebetween, a chamber in the top casing above the diaphragm and another chamber in the bottom casing below the diaphragm, duct means for conducting fluid from the exterior of the casings to one of the chambers and duct means for conducting fluid from the other chamber to the exterior of the casings, a central opening through the diaphragm, floating structural means including a perforated screw cap supported by the diaphragm and which structural means conducts fluid through the central opening, spring means pressing the floating means downwardly and other spring means pressing the floating means upwardly, stop means to limit the upwardly movement of the diaphragm, an adjustable flow control means at the top of the floating means and a headed screw type adjustable valve at the lower end of the floating means for shutting off and for regulating the flow of fluid to the means for conducting fluid to the exterior of the casings.

2. In a valve device having a bottom casing with a top flat surface and a top casing with a bottom flat surface, a flexible diaphragm between the surfaces which are joined together by bolts, a chamber in the top casing just above the diaphragm and a chamber in the bottom casing just below the diaphragm, means from each chamber connecting it to independent conduits from without the casings, a central opening through the diaphragm, tubular means supported by the diaphragm and passing through the central opening thereof, a washer just over the diaphragm and connected to the tubular means, a perforated cap fixed to the end of the tubular means and snugly holding the diaphragm to the washer, a valve seat at the bottom of the chamber in the bottom casing, and an adjustable valve head depending from the cap adapted to contact the valve seat when the diaphragm is in a raised position, a flow regulator at the top of the tubular means, and spring balancing means at each end of the tubular means which 7 maintain the diaphragm in its lowered position when there is relatively low pressure below the diaphragm, and a removable plug at the bottom of the bottom casing for access to the adjustable valve head which depends from the cap.

STANDLEE GREENING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 316,626 Jackson Apr. 28, 1885 395,387 Ford Jan. 1, 1889 2,259,809 Freeman Oct. 21, 1941 

